Kelderman Makes The Difference Against Minnesota

Freshman Josie Kelderman smacked a carom into the back of the net shortly before halftime on Thursday night, and that was all Marquette women’s soccer would need for a 1-0 win over Minnesota. The Golden Eagles picked up back-to-back wins over Big Ten foes and are now 2-3-0 on the season.

While the end result is good, great, and wonderful, it was a rough start for Marquette, as Maddy Henry had to make two of her nine saves in the match in the first 12 minutes. In fact, offensively speaking, it was all Minnesota for the first 32 minutes. The Gophers were outshooting Marquette 8-0 before Madison Burrier unleashed MU’s first shot of the game in the 34th minute.

Minnesota didn’t get another shot off for the rest of the half, though, and a wide free kick for the Golden Eagles led to Kelderman’s goal.

Marquette was able to corral Minnesota’s chances a little bit better in the second half, only allowing four shots after the break. However, Henry needed to put a stop to three of them, so it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops. The Golden Eagles only managed two more shots themselves in the second half, which didn’t help matters either. But after Minnesota’s Nikki Albrecht missed left in the 89th minute and a last second corner kick for the Gophers was punched away by Henry, it was time for the Golden Eagles to return home with their second straight win.

Up Next: Marquette returns to Milwaukee for their next four contests, with the next one coming up on Sunday afternoon. Utah State will be the opposition for that 1pm start, and the Aggies are 2-2 on the year after beating Weber State in overtime on Wednesday afternoon.